Hotel Ulibarri

Hotel Ulibarri

My dad's family is huge. It feels like every week I find out about a new relative. Dad has two sisters, my aunt Alicia, and my aunt Eva (who just got engaged last weekend *Round of Applause*). Alicia has three children who are all older than me, Alexander, Austin, and Paige. When the kids turned 13, Alicia and her husband Paul, would send the kids up to my house for a visit. That tradition eventually evolved into what can be described as "Hotel Ulibarri".

It started when I was in 5th grade. When Alexander was 19 he was looking for a job and Dad had a lot of work, so he moved up and lived with us for more than a year. He worked at Kobolt Studios (dad's art studio) and rode his bike to work with dad every day. He became a big brother to me. He eventually moved back to Florida, but little did I know that the cycle had begun.

The summer of my freshman year in high school, Eva got an internship in Ohio. The next summer, Paige got an internship here. At the same time, Austin was at Ohio University about an hour away, so we saw him every once in a while. Once Page’s internship was over, We only had my grandpa (Pop-pop) come to visit a couple times a year, including every Thanksgiving with Eva. But this year was when things really got crazy.

Back in December, Austin graduated from OU. Alicia and Paul came, picked him up, and they flew home. My family has a ranch in New Mexico. I don't know exactly how many people live there, but I know of at least three, my great-uncle, Rock, and his twin sons, Rocky and Adam. Rocky is a contract worker and he got a job in Columbus. The job was to last three weeks, but he's been here for three months. I'm happy about that though, because it has been really fun having him here.

Now while all that was happening, Austin was at home helping his mom with her business, Alicia Spears Realty, and applying for jobs. He missed his friends from OU, who live here. He applied for a job in Columbus and he got it and has been living with us for two months while looking for an apartment. Needless to say, the last few months have been filled with extra laughs, and a lot of ridiculousness!

An awesome example of this happened a month ago. Austin had been on a run, and he got “chased by deer.” He was kind of traumatized by this incident. At dinner we started talking  about other events like that, and it came to light that he is terrified of raccoons. I kid you not, mid-conversation we saw a baby raccoon out the window right by his car. He was so freaked out that when he went to the store that night, he had my baby brother, Luke walk him out to his car.

Rocky came home from work while Austin was still at the store. “Hey Man!” he said, hugging me when he walked in the door.

“Dude, you won't believe what happened!” I told him about the deer and raccoon, and then I explained the fears and the current situation.

“You know what you should do,” my dad said.

“What?" we inquired.

“You should get dressed up in your ape costume from Halloween, and then when he gets home pop out and scare him.” I immediately ran downstairs to the basement, and put the costume on. I couldn’t find the ape mask, so I put on a skull mask instead.

Unfortunately, the scare was not successful, we walked back into the house and I realized Austin was carrying a shopping basket from my store.

“You know you’re not supposed to bring those home right?”

“Nobody said I couldn’t,” he responded.

I was in shock. It was just so random I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I always thought that you had to go somewhere to have an adventure, but sometimes, the adventures unfold in the comfort of your own “hotel”.

Have a greattastic day

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

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